Don't Stop Chasing Your Dream!

In the mid 1970s, a man named Sylvester had a dream of one day becoming a
movie actor, but couldn't find a talent agency in New York City willing to take
a chance on him. After being turned down by hundreds of agencies, he was so
broke that he couldn't afford to pay the heating bill in his apartment. It got
to the point where he couldn't even buy food for his dog and was forced to sell
him to a stranger for $25. Sylvester and his wife argued constantly about their
lack of money and she wanted him to give up his dream and get a job to pay the
bills.

Two weeks after he sold his dog, he watched a boxing match between Muhammad
Ali and "The White Hope" Chuck Wepner. For 15 rounds, Wepner battled the champ
and took the best that Ali could dish out, but would not give up. Sylvester was
so moved by Wepner's display of passion to keep fighting that he began writing a
movie script immediately after the fight was over. He wrote continuously for
twenty straight hours and finished the script in one sitting. Over the next
several weeks, he showed his boxing script to a number of movie producers, but
was rejected each time and told that his script was sappy and too predictable.

Finally, Sylvester found a producer who liked what he had written and offered
to buy the script for $125,000. He agreed to sell the script, but only if he was
allowed to play the starring role in the movie. The producer told him that there
was no way on earth he would let an unknown actor star in the movie, so
Sylvester turned down the offer and walked away. The producer really liked the
script and called him back a couple of weeks later with an offer of $250,000,
but like before, refused to let him have the starring role in the movie. Once
again, Sylvester turned him down. The producer then offered a staggering sum of
$325,000 for the script without him in the movie and again, Sylvester refused to
sell the script. Eventually the producer agreed to take a chance and let
Sylvester play the starring role in the movie, but would only pay him $35,000.

Once Sylvester was paid the $35,000, he went back to the liquor store where
he had sold his dog weeks earlier with the hope of finding the man and buying
back his best friend. After waiting outside the store for three days, he found
the man and offered him $500 to buy his dog back. The man rejected that offer,
but eventually sold the dog back to Sylvester for $15,000 and a part in the
movie. The name of the movie was Rocky and it won the Academy Award for Best
Picture of 1976 and turned Sylvester Stallone into one of Hollywood's biggest
movie stars.

"A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what
seemed hopeless failure may turn into glorious success."- Elbert Hubbard

John Boe presents a wide variety of motivational and sales-oriented keynotes and
seminar programs for sales meetings and conventions. John is a nationally
recognized sales trainer and business motivational speaker with an impeccable
track record in the meeting industry. To have John speak at your next event,
visit www.johnboe.com or call 877 725-3750.
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